It had been an exhausting week, with two or three more hard weeks ahead. I was flying from coast to coast, so I requested an aisle seat. I needed the room to get some work done.
“Sorry sir,” the agent said, “but all that remains are center seats.”
I sighed as I got in line to board, knowing that work would be impossible. I dug a novel out of my shoulder bag and found my seat between a large man and an elderly woman. I didn’t even have my seat belt on when the woman started talking. She was in her seventies, with a sweet demeanor. But I was tired from speaking at several events, and I looked wistfully at the book in my hands. How could I open the cover without being rude?
“I’m sorry,” the woman said, perhaps catching my glance. “I’m sure you probably want to read.”
I smiled politely and began to crack open my book.
“I just don’t get to talk very much,” she said quietly. “Not since my husband died.”
Her words felt like a spiritual body-slam. I had allowed myself to fill up with self-pity, selfishly demanding four hours of duty-free living on a cross-country flight. Suddenly it occurred to me. Out of all the seats I could have been assigned, I found myself seated next to this elderly woman who felt lonely and was hoping for someone to talk to. Wasn’t it at least possible that God had placed me beside her?
We talked for the next four hours – about her children, her life, her church. I listened a lot, even though the novel kept summoning me. This is God’s daughter, I kept reminding myself.
As the flight ended, a surprising thing happened. The extreme weariness I had been feeling was gone. I actually felt buoyant. That’s the energizing reality of obedience. I had surrendered to the situation, believing it was not a random circumstance but one in which God had placed me. I had surrendered my will to his will – and in doing so, I had experienced Jesus, the delight of my soul. A quiet elation filled my soul.
Let’s make ourselves available to God today; let’s be aware of his providence and surrender to its sometimes-masked joys.
The Glorious Pursuit, 25-26
Thank you! I need to hear this right now. I’m about to board a plane back home to Houston from Atlanta. I am praying I will sit beside someone who need a good ear. I need this reminder.
Just what I needed today. Thank you!!!!